Behind the Scenes...

Need any more evidence that Harper is as staunchly Pro-Israel as possibly can be? Shame.

Of course we know the U.S. provides Israel with its weapons of mass destruction. Now to a tune of a further half billion. Shame.

Finally, did anyone really believe that Israel's bombing of the U.N Compound in Lebanon that killed U.N Peacekeepers was truly an accident? If so, then what's to hide? Shame.

Selecting Delegates for Liberal Leaderhip: Super Weekend

When you cast your ballot to select delegates for the leadership of the Federal Liberal Party remember Michael Ignatieff said the following:

"Qana was frankly inevitable in a situation in which you have rocket-launchers within 100 yards of a civilian population. This is the nature of the war that's going on ...This is the kind of dirty war you're in when you have to do this and I'm not losing sleep about that." - Michael Ignatieff

Gerrard Kennedy, Martha Hall Findlay, and Ken Dryden "get it" when it comes to social justice in the MidEast conflict. They've got my support this Super Weekend.

Scott Brison, Joe Volpe are clearly complicit with Israel's disproportionate response. Shame.

Read some quotes from the crew here.

Shame on Canada's Conservative Government

Harper has brought Canada into a shameful crew in complicity and outright support of the worsening human catastrophe in Gaza.

Excerpts:

UN says Gaza crisis 'intolerable'

Standards of human rights in the Palestinian territories have fallen to intolerable new levels, says a UN expert on the Mid-East conflict.
John Dugard said Israel was largely to blame for turning Gaza into "a prison" and "throwing away the key".
He also criticised Canada, Europe and the US for cutting funds to Palestinian Authority, run by the Hamas militant group which does not recognise Israel.
...
Mr Dugard, UN special rapporteur on Palestinian human rights, said three-quarters of Palestinians in Gaza now depended on food aid - a result, he added, of Israeli military raids, blockades and demolitions.
"I hope that my portrayal... will trouble the consciences of those accustomed to turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the suffering of the Palestinian people," Mr Dugard told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
...
More than 100 civilians have been killed in army raids and bombardments in the Gaza Strip.
"What Israel chooses to describe as collateral damage to the civilian population is in fact indiscriminate killing prohibited by international law," he said.
"Israel violates international law as expounded by the Security Council and the International Court of Justice and goes unpunished," he said.
"But the Palestinian people are punished for having democratically elected a regime unacceptable to Israel, the US and the EU.
"In effect, the Palestinian people have been subjected to economic sanctions - the first time an occupied people has been so treated," he said. (Source: BBC News, Sept 26/06)

Would have loved to be with the crowd in this rally

Over 1/2 a million Lebanese turned out to celebrate victory with Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah at this rally.

Bush's Deception

Once bitten, twice shy...

Excerpts:

US Iran report branded dishonest:

The UN nuclear watchdog has protested to the US government over a report on Iran's nuclear programme, calling it "erroneous" and "misleading".
...
It says the report was wrong to say that Iran had enriched uranium to weapons-grade level when the IAEA had only found small quantities of enrichment at far lower levels.
...
A Western diplomat called it "deja vu of the pre-Iraq war period". (Source: BBC News, Sept 14/06)

Sister says it best in response to Pope's comments on the Holy Prophet

This Sister says it best in this Letter to the Editor in The Toronto Star (Sept 13 edition):

Excerpts:

Sept. 13.For a religious leader giving a very public speech about the subject, Pope Benedict XVI does not appear to know much about the Islamic concept of jihad, a word meaning to struggle to uphold justice but pathetically translated as "holy war."
...
Did Prophet Muhammad indeed order his followers to spread Islam by the sword? No, he did not. The Qur'an clearly says there is no compulsion in religion. The rules of physical jihad in the case of war could not be clearer: The primary sources of Islam forbid in the strongest terms the killing of non-combatants and the destruction of crops and places of worship.The Pope is certainly free to disagree with Islam, but perpetuating misinformation is irresponsible and dishonest.

---

Sumayyah Hussein, Toronto

Fundraising dinner for humanitarian efforts in Lebanon

Saturday, September 16
6:00pm
Islamic Society of York Region
1380 Stouffville Road
Richmond Hill, Ontario
Tel: 905-887-8913

The people of Lebanon have suffered grievously as a result of the 34-day Israeli military onslaught in July/August. According to most conservative estimates, 1300 people were killed, a third of them children; more than 4,000 injured and another one million made homeless. Much of Lebanon's infrastructure has been destroyed including 15,000 houses, many of them in southern Lebanon or in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Israel lifted the siege of Lebanese ports only in the last few days to allow food, medicines and fuel to be delivered to the people.

The scale of suffering is immense. It is time for us to play our part in extending a helping hand to the suffering masses in Lebanon.

On Saturday, September 16, the Islamic Society of York Region and Al-Huda Lebanese Muslim Society will hold a joint fundraising dinner to raise funds for Lebanese civilians. A number of guests, including some MPs and families who were recently in Lebanon, will speak at the event.

There will also be a video presentation.

Tickets: $25/person

All proceeds will go to help Lebanese civilians affected by the war.

For further information, please contact:
Zafar Bangash: 905-887-8913
Ghazi Jammal: 416-757-2614
- - - - -
Endorsed by:

Toronto Coalition to Stop the War

TCSW is Toronto's city-wide anti-war coalition,
comprised of more than fifty labour, faith and community organisations,
and a member of the Canadian Peace Alliance.
www.nowar.ca stopthewar@sympatico.ca 416-795-5863

Must attend this conference

Can view the full program agenda here.

The real deal on Iran post 9/11

Most people were shocked that Bush labelled Iran as one of the so-called "axis of evil" countries in his post 9/11 address. Did he not understand that in fighting the Taliban that the Americans could have no better ally than the Iranians? Anyhow, the below is a good read:


Excerpts:

In the days after 9/11, Iranian president Mohammad Khatami condemned the terrorist attack and reached out to the West to fight terrorism together.

Too bad we ignored him. We'd be safer today if we hadn't.

Khatami was a moderate reformer, a popular democratically elected president who had been struggling to limit the power of Iran's reactionary religious leaders, and to open up a dialogue between the West and the Muslim world.

You'd think the West would love a guy like that. But the Bush administration was determined to treat 9/11 as a battle in the "clash of civilizations" — a clash that Khatami was trying to steer the world away from.

So, despite an outpouring of sympathy from Iranians over 9/11 — including a moment of silence at an Iranian soccer match — Washington declared Iran part of the "axis of evil" and dragged the West into a "war on terror" that involved invading Muslim countries. (Source: Toronto Star, Sept 10/06, Linda McQuaig)

Israel responsible for genocide in Gaza

And the world remains complicit.

Excerpts:

Living conditions for Palestinians in Gaza have reached breaking point, a senior UN official has said.

The warning came from Karen Abuzayd, head of the UN Relief and Works Agency.

She said Israeli military action in Gaza over recent weeks was creating suffering and mass despair, rather than any desire for political compromise.

...

"It would be great to have an international presence, civilian, military, whatever," she said, adding that an international force of peacekeepers could offer Gaza's 1.5m people some protection.

"The strangulation of commerce and trade has ruined the economy, it has brought the institutions of government to a point of near-meltdown and badly shaken the society," she said.

"These pressures and tactics have not resulted in a desire for compromise on the part of the government or the people, or yet the fall of the government, but rather have created mass despair, anger and a sense of hopelessness and abandonment."

...

Between then and the end of August, Israeli security forces killed 226 Palestinians, 54 of them minors, in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Human rights group, B'Tselem has reported.

The group says 114 of these were not taking part in any hostilities when killed, and 46 of them were minors.

In August alone 76 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military, 19 of them minors, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. More than half of those killed were not participating in hostilities at the time, B'Tselem says.

(Source: BBC News, Sept 8/2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5326378.stm)

Bush's secret, CIA run, torture prisons

Quote of the day from none other than the U.N. Secretary General himself:

"I cannot believe that there can be a trade between the effective fight against terrorism and protection of civil liberties...If as individuals we are asked to give up our freedom, our liberties, our human rights, as protection against terrorism, do we in the end have protection?" (Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, Sept 7/06, Source: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Bush_World_View.html)

Israel expands illegal occupation, but hey its Israel they can break International Law

Israel Plans New Homes in West Bank Settlement By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
04 September 2006

Excerpts:

Israel's government says it intends to build 690 new homes in two West Bank settlements. Palestinian officials say the plan is a violation of the U.S.-backed road map peace plan.

The settlement construction plan is the largest proposed by Israel's government since Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert took office on May 4.
...

Socially responsible investing and consumerism

Have a look at this page. Its time to action against social injustices. The easiest place to start is by NOT using our pocket books in the wrong places.

If you have comments/suggestions, feel free to add a comment to this blog (entry).

We need to start putting some wins in the "people power" column.

Latest Edition of Al-Furqan: Brotherhood, Courage & Loyalty In ‘Abbas Bin ‘Ali

Latest edition (August 31/06) of Respected Alim, Hujjatul Islam Wal Muslimeen Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi's Al-Furqan, titled: Brotherhood, Courage & Loyalty In ‘Abbas Bin ‘Ali is now available.

This edition and all past editions of Al-Furqan can be found here.